Do! Run Run

A superb final entry into the "Mr Do!" series (not counting the Neo Geo-based "Neo Mr. Do", which was merely a remake of the first game in the series), "Do! Run Run" takes its inspiration from Namco's "Pac-Man".

As in his previous games, Mr Do! must once again collect coloured dots and/or fruit while avoiding or killing a number of enemies. For the fourth Mr Do! outing, Universal ditched the sideways viewpoint of the series' previous games and switched to an overhead perspective. This allowed the game to give an impression of 'depth', with slopes and steps affecting Mr Do!'s mobility and speed.

Mr. Do. has two items at his disposal with which he can kill the his enemies. The first is the 'Powerball', which featured in the original 'Mr. Do!' but was dropped from the first two sequels. The Powerball can be shot directly at an enemy to kill it instantly.

The second offensive option is provided in the form of the large wooden logs that litter the levels. These work in the same way as the apples did in the original game, and can be pushed free of their supporting struts, causing them to roll down the screen and kill everything in their path, including Mr. Do. himself if he strays too near.

As Mr Do! moves around a screen, he trails a line behind him. Players can join the two ends of the line up to form a rectangle (in a similar fashion to Taito's 1981 classic, "Qix") which will change any dots within the rectangle into cherries. A second rectangle can be drawn around the cherries which in turn will change them into apples. This can be repeated twice more, changing apples into lemons, and lemons into pineapples. The better the fruit, the more bonus points Mr Do! will earn when he collects them.

Because of the video game crash of 1983, Universal decided to release their final Mr. Do! game as a conversion kit only, because the market for dedicated cabinets had all but dried up at this point (but it was a full kit that would fit any cabinet, not just a kit for other Mr. Do! games). This kit is fairly rare, and is almost impossible to find today. The kit contained a new PCB and new graphics for the machine, the graphics were purple themed, and the marquee had a 'DO! Run Run' logo superimposed over a purple geometric landscape with a blue line running randomly about it.

Bootleggers ported this title to the very similar "Mr. Do's Castle" hardware, although that version is fairly rare.

Adam Mastromarino of Bristol, England holds the official record for this game with 1605100 points on September 16, 1984.

You can kill a baddie with your ball or by log-rolling him. Save the ball for emergencies and use the logs as much as possible.

It takes 16 dots to regain your ball after you throw it.

Each bounce of your ball against a wall increases the points you can get if it hits a baddie, up to 3000 pts max. Somewhere on every board, is hidden a 'letter', that when surrounded by your path, will bring out the 'E-X-T-R-A' guy if you step on it. It changes as time passes so use this to get the letters you need to come out so you can spell extra as fast as possible.

The extra guy will also come out if you kill or log-roll enough baddies. If you use the hidden letter and a log, you should be able to get 2 EXTRA letters per level. This will earn you more free Mr. Do!s as fast as possible because the higher levels will get tough.

Stepping on an EXTRA letter will not only bring out the EXTRA guy and his entourage, but the baddies on the level will slow down to half speed. This makes it easy to avoid them while you lure the EXTRA and his ghosts under a log.

Use the logs as much as possible. They kill the most guys with a single log to get the most points. If you can lure 3 or 4 baddies into the path of a log, they will not move out of the way once the log is pushed and you kill them easily. Walking under a log knocks out the post holding them up so get out of the way if you do that. You do not have to push the log from above to get it moving.

A log will also roll if it is hit by a flaming/flying snake/dragon. Be aware of this so you don't get crushed!

A level ends once you get all the baddies (or get all the dots). Use this to your advantage. If a log is going to run over the last baddie, let it run into you too. If all the baddies are in line with a log, you can start it rolling, let it roll you and then the baddies will freeze in place for the log to roll them too. Your life will be restored at the end of the level if you get all the baddies!

Mr. Do! slows down going up a step and speeds up when going down them. Use this to your advantage if you are being chased. The baddies don't speed up going downhill so you have the advantage.

Don't waste your time gathering dots or surrounding them to get pineapples. There are more points in log-rolling and multi-bounce hits of your ball. Collect dots only to restore your ball or expose the EXTRA letter. You should be able to get about 20000 points per level using the above techniques.

Try to make concentric circle patterns from the outermost edge in, 'eating' the outermost cherries, dots or whatever each time. This will allow you to get a ton of pineapples, which score the most, and will get you a good score in early stages before it gets difficult.